David Heffernan, co-chair of the firm's Aviation Team, authored the blog "'Comfort Animals' Do Not Belong In An Aircraft Cabin; Regulators May Act Soon To Address The Problem" for Forbes. In 2017, U.S. airlines transported one million “service animals” – animals that accompany a person with a disability. By law, these animals may travel in the aircraft cabin without being confined to a pet carrier or being subject to an airline-imposed pet fee. Of these one million animals, more than three quarters are emotional support or comfort animals (or ESAs) – animals that the passenger claims he or she needs due to an emotional or mental disability. In his blog for Forbes, David describes the many issues that arise from unscrupulous vendors selling “service animal” credentials online for pets which are not trained to provide any “service.”
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